Magnetic sound recording and reproducing



Aug. 22, 1950 J. NEUFELD 2,520,050

MAGNETIC SOUND RECORDING AND REPRODUCING Filed Sept. 17, 1945 2 Sheds-Sheet l MICROPHONE l3 8 6 4 9 ERASING HEAD l5 '6 y/ (D REPRODUCING w RECORDING HEAD so 2 MOTOR 41 5| 40 i so loo 4 62 57 I 1 60 I LOUD-SPEAKERS I l I 2 MOTOR 63 I J if; 43 FIG. 5

58 INVENTOR.

v EMA,

Aug. 22, 1950 J. NEUFELD MAGNETIC SOUND RECORDING AND REPRODUCING 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 17. 1945 LOUD-SPEAKER REPRODUCING HEAD MICROPHONE LOUD-SPEAKERS R EPRODUCING HEAD ,CROPHONE IN VEN TOR.

Patented Aug. 22, 1956 PAT ET OFFICE bMAGNETIC SGUNDJRECQBDENGJAND l JEEPRODUCING uThi einveniie areiates tog-sated;-reqorsiinaa 5r prpduci aa parame itnelma neti :Zandthebth r erbe iii i ia avers ma net zaiiqn inr'iwhigh h of; 1e signalqthat itwwas desired 'to record. ..aal hoiieh .t am the a wer abl p ed :luvse l: e u t virast w e L-b a; n be 5 wo kers; .tha ;i ;=Gree was necessary to run =,;sneedsash ;as.5.1m; ie t pe asecqnd- Qumfipr .we ama e q rcdii aa ,n iume T131513:'WQUMJIIYQIYBJIQWET ed :.:r r and that connection it became apparent thatigitlwaa eeessa s m xac re a a p i c --shor v iseq ie of Q ant Dnrin g; this rese areh Q h vered amen; hou h-o ly; a ver sho t L tion of the wire Was exposed to a magnetimfifild,

; .n t e useih tudieallyralone i m or-dine. ead-ma ha fi lysa ,extreme y ism ll;por ion e e e .--of-- ir we ezeas e "t :ihermae et ifieldrthree or four times that length would becom maget ze Th ehe en was ,-id n ifi.e as -fma netiespreasii a In order .to overcome the efiects of magnetic l-tsprea ding, a method, of recording transyersely wasl developecl. Transversal recording has ,been -qhere to iorev accomplished on a steel ribbon cr tape 5 5 about .00l ;inch thick and .125 inch wide haying its r ends secured .to suitable ,wincling reels and passing. between a pair of recording magnets {see rforinstance British Patent 389,1 17 or the afore- ,mentioned paper byC N. 'l he rpple o pieces of the recording magnets were p ac qirectlyqoppositeeach other sov that the magnetic pattern consisted of variations in the; intensity of magnetization, the giirectionof the magnetization being substantially perpendieular to the sorface of the tape, thusproducing,a -transigerse n agnetization of thel tape. IH Qr-BQQSVG nei t e h ha h a the. l softitsat ickness, e it is perpencliculal to he iofthe moyapletape. Inothenw pe h fareuaht-0 =ae ei r elernental -mag;ne'ts ,125, inehfwide; ancl QQ inch ontrasted itha tape longitu 11y d b -l e a c l a the. case of longitudinal magnetization a sinihe d w iienara e the A fia ama e -magnetic recording; @transversal recording on l, mane zf r-l-i esp 'p the mediumomwh ch h reeprd-i man Qbviously, 'it is possible to ,record "higher ire- 7 1 3 9 i --.n i the -..-,appar t1a faster, i-h

a given sp edldifierent: eq eds-rwt ul ib ica wableo re ord auid fi ran fv-f equencie v and; 013 purposes of eoinparing -gne h0d;;-t0 another it -;is important;- to keep-this n mind.

" i abe e r t s er o e lf r rew fi strap ve rsely on; steel-.tape is capable ef recording frequenc 1 p .t01806 c s 51:9 lee-s n t a ta speed of 16 inches per second (seeithe; above r referred' t r =by H kma the-mos hi hly l 1evelepedx lon itudinal recorqer requires a wire speed of 75 inches per second in order to reproduce frequencies up to 8000 cycles per second, this represents a very substantial difference, and this diflerence is mainly due to the fact that, in the one case there was no ma netic spreading longitudinally, while in the other case there was.

Despite this large difference in performance, the magnetic recording apparatus utilizing a, thin wire is receiving a wide recognition and is extremely useful, because the mechanical problems in handling wire are very much easier to solve than the mechanical problems in handling a steel tape. Wire can be wound upon a spool comparatively easily with little danger of kinking; whereas, tape requires special guiding mechanism and has to be very carefully layer wound; otherwise, kinking and tangling occurs. Because of these difiiculties, the storage reels on which a steel tape is wound usually are considerably larger than the storage reels on which the same ength of wire has been wound. This very much greater mechanical convenience for handling wire as compared to tape or ribbon accounts for the fact that Wire recorders are in use today despite the fact that the performance that can be achieved with wire recorders for a given speed of wire is very much inferior to that that can be achieved with tape recorders for the same speed of tape. As pointed out above, for a given speed, the wire recorders are about one-fourth as good as the tape recorders. However, the handling of the wire is so much easier and, therefore, this compensates for this factor of four and makes the wire recorder still competitive.

It is apparent, therefore, that great advantage could be derived from an instrument that would combine the merits of wire recording with the merits of tape recording, or transversal recording. In this case the mechanical convenience of handling a member having round cross section would be retained, and at the same time, the advantages of slow speed for a given quality would be retained.

Whereas, it is preferably feasible to record transversely on wire with the same faithfulness that it is possible to record transversely on ribbon, the reproducing problem is very much complicated by the fact that the wire twists, and that at certain times during the reproducing process the magnetism on the wire is directed in a direction such, that the pickup device responds very unfavorably. In fact, under certain conditions, the magnetism in the wire can be oriented accidentally exactly at right angle to the direction for which the reproducing device is set, in which case the reproduction will be completely absent, i. e., the pickup device will not respond to the magnetization of the wire and will produce zero voltage. One of the reasons, in fact, for employing steel tape instead of wire is to prevent the twisting, the steel tape being held mechanincally between proper supports which present it to the reproducing head always in a given orientation. Because of the round cross section of the wire it is not possible to hold the wire always in one position and twisting is absolutely unavoidable. Numerous efforts have been made to get around this difificulty, but without success, because it is impossible to design a reproducing head that will uniformly respond to the transverse magnetism in the wire, irrespective as to whether the twisting of the wire takes place or not. No matter what kind of a magnetic circuit is employed, there always appears to be an angle in the orientation of the magnetism of the wire at which the reproducing device will give zero response. When the wire twists through the range that comprises this orientation, the reproduction is totally absent and only the noise due to the magnetic irregularities of the wire remains.

This invention describes a means for picking up transverse magnetism in the wire irrespective of orientation. The principle consists in providing a pair of pickup magnetic circuits or coils set at right angles one to another, so that when the voltage picked up by one coil is zero, the voltage picked up by the other is maximum. Consequently, one of the pick up coils will be at all times responsive to the transverse magnetism of the wire, irrespective of the orientation of the wire cross section with respect to the pole pieces of the reproducer. By providing this arrangement, it is possible to combine all the advantages of recording upon a thin wire, such as ease of handling, cheapness, the general availability of the very long stretches of wire, etc, with all the advantages of recording upon a tape, such as high quality per unit of speed. Consequently, the present invention represents considerable advantage over the art, because it makes it possible to employ now wire recording and run the wire at a speed of only one-fourth the speed that was necessary previously for the same results.

In accordance with a specific feature of this invention, the record is made on a very thin slowly moving magnetic wire having high magnetic retensivity by employment of transverse magnetization. The transverse magnetization is induced by means of pole pieces contacting or nearly contacting either side of the wire, the pole pieces being made of laminations of magnetic material of high magnetic permeability, high resistivity and very low retentivity, and being tapered on one end so that the portion adjacent to the wire is in the form of avery thin lamination perpendicular to the axis of the wire.

A shortcoming of magnetic sound recording methods and apparatus as known heretofore has been that, in order to secure recordation of all of the desired frequencies, the magnetic recording wire had to be driven at such high speed that it was not possible to make a continuous recording of a desirable duration on a convenient length of the recording wire or tape.

It is accordingly a primary general object of the present invention to provide a magnetic recording machine and method, in accordance with which a recording of comparatively long duration may be made on a recording element of a normal or convenient length.

Other objects and advantages of the invention, will be apparent from the following specification when taken with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic view of a recording and reproducing apparatus showing means for making a record upon a movable wire, means for erasing the record from the wire, and means for effecting the reproduction of speech from the record.

Fig. 2 shows diagrammatically the front and cross sectional views of an element of the apparatus that is used for effecting recording only.

Fig. 3 shows diagrammatically the front and a cross sectional view of an element of the apparatus that is used for effecting reproduction only.

Fig. 4 shows certain geometrical relationship between the Wire and the pole pieces of the reable motive power such as the motor 9.

the wire is passingfrom the-spool 3 to be wound --wire and is designated as recording head. secondelectromagnet I2 -is'provlded for reproducing" sound from the magnetic recordings on agszopso 1 cordingelectromagnet during 'zthexprocess of"recording. I

I Fig. shows certain sgeometricalrelationship between the wire and the-poletpieces ofthe reproducing electromagnet during'the process of 5 reproducing.

Fig.6 shows-a -mo'dified fragment ofthe arrangement of'Fig. 1 inwhi'ch therreproducerrconsists of two electromagnets differently oriented one with respect to the other anda-sing-le" loud speaker is connected to asai'delectromagnets.

Fig. 7 shows another modifiedfragment of the arrangement of Fig. 1- in which the -reproduoer consists of two electromagnets differently oriented I one with respect to the other'and'two loudspeak ers are separately connected'to said electromag- The apparatus shownin Fig. 1' 'is provided with a supporting base I," bearing members 2,- and spools 3, 4 which are jo-urnalled in these bear ing members. Upright guide members?) and 6 are provided-and these guide'members are providedrespectively with slots I; 8-for the passage of the recording-wire. At thecommencement of a recording operation a spoolofwire 3 is pro-,7

vided, the spools 3 are kept instock and are ready -for operation. The" wire 46 is drawn off of the spool 3 and wound-upon the spool 4 by any suit- When on spool 4,-it is drawn throughslot I in upright member' fi and it passes -a'series of electromagnetic devices. The first'electromagnet II is provided for recording magneticallyv sound upon the the wire, and-is designated as reproducing "headf The third electromagnet" I3 is-provided for the purpose of erasing the magnetic recordings fromthe wire, andis'therefore designated as erasing head.

In order that ai'record may. b .erased'ifrom the .wire, the electromagnetilsis suppliedwithcurrentfromra source I5 by means of'conductors' I 6;. A switch I! is alsorprovidedlto complete the circuit at will. '-.When current: is supplied 'to the I .electromagnet" iii, .the wirepassing between .the

poles is left .in.v a.uniformandzdemagnetizedcon- :dition.

.The Wire IE! is moved in theidirectlon indicated :,-by theia'rrow, regardless :whetherpa record is to bemade, or-if; a recordis to: be; reproduced.

For -instance,.,in cases that almost the entire corded: wire .has been wound on the spool '4, a ebackwinding thereofto the spool 3 is necessarily required" before: th "reproduction of; this record or records can-be commenced. .This backwindingis accomplished by,:means ofraazmotor 20 adapted tov drivethe spool 3 through the shaft'Z I. a

The recording head II consistsof an electro- -magnet having an iron core and a winding 25 wound aroundv the core24. The core 24 is'provided with two pole pieces 26 and 21, immediately 9 adjacent one. to another. "Th po1e' pieces are" providedwithjsharp edges inform of .knife blades in order to localize'within anarrow' zone ,of .ex-

ploration the flux that passes; between them.

The narrow -air gap between thepole pieces 26, ills-designated by 28. The wireIiJ is'made to pass through the air; gap 28, in such azmanner,

that the axis of the wire isperpendicular to the line joining the pol pieces;26- and 21. The winding 25 is connected through the battery .30'to'the secondary winding of 1 the transformer 3 I the The . .i 26(27' andFig. ZC-shows th cross section through a plane'passing through the axis of. the-wire and I the line joining-thepole pieces 26,121.

It --is apparent that. .as thewire Iil is moved in the direction o-f-the arrow, -as-described above,"it isbrought to a very high transverse. magnetization'bythe flux set up between'the pole pieces 16, 21. 'By -transverse magnetization it is meant that the flux in the wire is in: the ;direction of its thickness, i. e. it is perpendicular to z the-axis of thewire. In-other words, awire so magnetized maybe thought of as aseries of:ele- "mental magnets directed transversely to the-axis of th wire, as contrastedwith'a.-.wire-longitudinally magnetized by poles spaced along the axis of the wire.

Inthe arrangement disclosed, the -:pole tips 26, 21' are very close, but not actually in contactwith the wire, although -in' -some instances an actual contact can be realized. An appreciableseparation of the pole tips-*Will, of course, materially reduce the 'e fficiencyrof thesystem.

'The'reproducing head I2 is shown diagrammatically in-Fig. 3. In particular, Fig: 3A shows :the front-view of the reproducing-head and "Fig.

3B shows the cross sectionthrougha plane passing throughthe wire I0 and throughalinej-oin- :ingthe pole. pieces. The reproducing: head i I2 consists essentially of a ferromagnetic :ring. :with four vprotrudingpole pieces '4 I, 12, 43,244

40 directedtowards insideuoi ':the ring, andof a thin ferromagnetic diaphragm located -I-in.the central portion .of .the ring 40 and rigidly setinto *the pole pieces 2 4 I 42,143,114. Th zdiaphragm, vpole: pieces, and-ring are :all designed to' ;be .an 45;:integral unit. The diaphragm 5flxyis provided :with a. hole: 5 I just barely large-enough tov pass :xthe wire "I through the diaphragm, and is "pro- --w ided-..with.diagonalcuts.52 ,"53; 54,155. i The. purpose of the diagonalcuts is to:.produce:za highre- .50 'luctancepathfromone section ofv theidiaphragm to another, andtohelp guide the magnetic "lines .throughthepole pieces, and preventtitirom short circuiting by. the presencexofs-a; continuous. ferromagnetic path. :,Theipole piecesrL dZ, 43544. are

. .providedxwith.coils 5'5, 51, "58, .59, :respectively.

pCoils. 56, 58 .are connected in .series pend coils 51, 59 are. connectedin series. 'iThese two pairs .of coilstare broughtup to. the lead wires designated I as Stand 6 I respectively.

.The outputsderived from the leadwires 68;. 6| are respectively .fed .into; conventional amplifiers 262, 63. through switch mechanism. 64' andyare'respectively applied ,tothe loudspeakers -8'Land' 88. It; shall appear, obvious in the; subsequent de- (55 scription of myinventionpthat.whenlthermagnetizedzwire Ill during its motionin the direction of they arrow, passes through the opening, 5 I ,;.the c.oils 5'6, .58 andi'lil, 59 will respondtothe. varying magnetic field derived 1' fromithe-"mot-ion ,of 7 -the magnetized-wire .Ill:.and .willproduce two voltagesacross the'windings. of these coils, that -are substantially proportional ito the rate :of change of the magnetic flux. :These two-voltages will be aderivedefrcm eachof the. pairs :of coils: 55, 7 I, 58. and; 51;...59. and-will be ap lied. acrossastherleads 6| and 90, respectively. It is apparent that the magnitude of each of these two voltages will depend upon the orientation of the magnetism of the wire with respect to the pole pieces of the reproducing head l2, and since the wire twists, the magnetism of the wire may be directed in such a manner that one of the two pairs of coils 56, 58 and 51, 59 may respond very unfavorably. In fact, under certain conditions, the magnetism in the wire can be directed accidentally exactly at right angles to the axis of one of the pairs of coils, say t the pair of coils 56, 58. In this case the voltage generated by the coils 56, 58 will be zero because there are no flux linkages between the magnetic flux produced by the wire HI and the coils 56, 58. However, at the same instant, the flux linkages between the magnetic flux produced by the wire l and the coils 51, 59 is at maximum because the magnetism of the wire will have the same direction as the axis of the coils 51, 59. Consequently, the voltage generated by the coils 51, 59 will be maximum. It is therefore apparent that, because of the twisting of the wire, the magnitude of the response of the coils 56, 58 and 51, 59 will continually vary and at any instant will be dependent upon the orientation of the magnetism of the wire with respect to the axis of the coils 56, 58 and 51, 59. Consequently, the two voltages derived from the coils 56, 58 and 51, 59 will be applied across the leads BI and 60, respectively, and will have magnitudes depending upon the orientation of the magnetization of the wire (representing the speech signals) with respect to the axis of the coils 56, 58 and 51, 59, respectively. More particularly, each of these two voltages will have a magnitude representing the directional component of the speech signals impressed magnetically upon the wire ID, the said directional component being referred to the axial direction of the coils, 56, 58 and 51, 59, respectively.

Consequently, we obtain across the leads 6| and 60, respectively, two voltages, each of said voltages representing the response of the corresponding pair of coils (56, 58 or 51, 59) to the varying magnetic field derived from the motion of the magnetized wire I0. It is apparent that each of these two voltages will represent the facsimile of the speech signals impressed magnetically upon the wire and, consequently, these two voltages will vary with respect to time in a substantially similar manner. The only difierence between the voltages across the leads 60 and 6|, is the difference in intensity, since the intensity depends upon the orientation of the magnetism of the wire with respect to the axis of the coils 56, 58 and 51, 59, and because of the twisting of the wire, this orientation varies.

If, for instance, the orientation of the magnetism of the wire I0 is such as to make an angle of 45 degrees with the axis of the coils 56, 58, and 45 degrees with the axis of the coils 51, 59, then the signals derived from the leads 66 and GI are equal in intensity. If, however, the orientation of the magnetism of the wire I0 is such as to make a smaller angle with the axis of the coils 56, 58, than with the axis of the coils 51, 58, the signal derived from the leads 68 is weaker in intensity than the signal derived from the leads 6|. Since, because of the twisting efiect, the orientation of the magnetism continually varies, the relative intensities of the signals derived from the leads 60 and 6| vary in relationship to the twisting motion of the wire.

The leads 60 and 6| are connected to loudspeakers 81 and 88 through the amplifiers 62 and 63, respectively. The loud-speakers are of conventional design and adapted to translate the electrical energy derived from the leads 68 and SI into acoustical energy that is radiated into s ace.

When the device is in operation, the coils 51, 59 and 56, 58 are arranged to respond continuously to the magnetism of the wire and to produce the two component electrical signals applied to leads 60 and 6|, respectively. It is also apparent that as the wire twists, there are some orientations of the magnetism of the wire which cause either of the two component signals to be zero. There is, however, no orientation of the magnetism of the wire H) which would cause both component signals to be zero simultaneously, since at the instant when one component signal is zero, the other is maximum. The component derived from the leads 68 is radiated in form of acoustical power by the loud-speaker 81 and the component derived from the leads 6| is radiated in form of acoustical power by the loud-speaker 88. The total acoustical power thus generated is equal to the sum of acoustical powers generated by the loud-speakers 81 and 88.

Consider now more in detail the operation of the arrangement of Fig. 1, as a recorder and as a reproducer. The operation is controlled by three switch units designated by numerals I1, 34 and 54. When it is desired to impress sound upon the wire lo, the switch I1 controlling the erasing head I 3 and the switch 64 controlling the reproducing head |2 are open, and the switch 34 controlling the recording head II is closed. The wire is assumed to be wound upon the spool 4 and the motion of the wire in the direction indicated by the arrow is produced by unwinding the wire from the spool 3 and winding it upon the spool 4. Sound waves are arranged to impinge upon the diaphragm of the microphone 35 and cause motions in the electrodynamic transducing mechanism which generate electrical currents that are representative of the sound waves. The speech currents are transmitted through the transformer 3| to the winding 25 and produce in the air gap 28 separating the pole pieces 26, 21 a magnetic flux which is a reasonably exact facsimile of the sound waves that impinge upon the diaphragm of the microphone 35. Before the wire enters into the air gap 28, it is assumed to be in demagnetized condition. It is apparent, that an extremely small portion of the wire which at a given instant is in the direct neighborhood of the pole pieces 26, 21 becomes magnetized in the direction perpendicular to the axis of the wire and to the extent dependent upon the strength of the magnetic flux at the instant under consideration. Therefore, after this portion of wire has left the air gap and proceeds in the direction of the arrow towards the spool 4, a sub sequent portion of the wire enters the air gap and becomes subsequently magnetized in the direction perpendicular to the axis of the wire and to the extent dependent upon the strength of the magnetic field in the air gap at said subsequent instant. Because of the magneticretentivity,each element of wire, after having passed through the air gap acquires a magnetic moment which is vectorially located in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the wire and the direction of which is determined by the position of the pole pieces 28, 21 with respect to the cross section of the elemental wire at the instant it was subjected to the magnetic field. The geometric relationship ar ne showing-the direction of the magnetic-force respect -to the position, of the pole pieces and.

thecross section. ofrthe. wire: atatheiinstantsoil magnetization is .shown, inFig 4A.

It. is therefore apparent. that;.. as the. wire I 0. moves in the direction of the arrowandibeeomes. weundupon the-drum .4, it acquires ..and,.retains a. succession: of magnetic moments .directe'd transe. versely to the length of .thewire. and representing. the speech currents appliedi to the air gap 28;;

In order to reproduce the speechthus stored upon again through the air gap-.2 80f the electromagnet.

I-I .the relative position -.of:theretained..magnetic momentwithnrespect to. the polepieceszt, 21 is. not'any morew-the-same.as shown in Fig. 4A; .Be cause of the-twisting of thewireduring ,:its.windinga-nd unwinding .motion,-- thecrosssection. of; the element of the:- wire-that .repasses :through the air gap-ifi does not occupy. an identical. lposi= tion. to thefonerduringsthe. instantof magnetiza-.- tion; The direction ofthemagnetic moment/vector is usuallyinclinedwith.:.respect to ithetaxis joining the pole .piecesbyl aneanglerthat may be;

designated as ea as illustrated; in "Fig. .43." Con.- sequent1-y,- theamount. ofz.flux..interlinking with the coil 25 that iscausedrby themagnetiemo'e ment oithe-elemental wiredepends) upon; the; value :1, where-La indicates. the relativeavaluel-ofe twist; i.: e. the change in angular..-dis'placement of the. elementalrsection. ofLwire at. the...ins.tant' it repasses. through. the. air. gap -.28.' asicompared'.v

tot-the. reference. value of... thefangnlar. displace-.- ment i of the 53,1116SECtiOIIeOfiWiX'G QJ] the. instant. at which the magneti e impression. was... made, WhBIl.-.a=Q.-Ol- Whenua=l80 the :magneticiflux derived from theewire and-iinterlinking with the. 0011425 :is maxi-mumewhen. "1:90P or.-a=270i?, .this. flux; is --zero,- and. for any intermediate :values. oil

a thisflux is between aemaximum and.zero.'-..Con-.

sequently, the :eleetromagnet I I.. cannot. be; used 1 for. purposes or reproducingfithe,signal...impressed.

magnetically upon-the: moving .wire I0; -.since, for: some angular positionscaused. by the vtwistingeoh the :wire, there-sis" novflux. .interli-nkingwith. the. electromagnet :I .I .and.,ltherefore, the .electromagenet dees not 'respond at.- all. to the. signal .ime pressed upon the .wire.

Therefore, in order to :reproducethe. .signalim: pressed magnetically upon: the. .moving wire I 0, the switch. is-.open .insor.der. to (render, the .ree.

cording head I I inoperativeaand; the..switch. BL is .closed, thus permittingathe magnetizedwineto.

energize .the. reproducinghead Il a The reproducing head I 2 consistsvofs two. pairs. ofpole pieces 4 I 43 and-442,. 44. arranged ati 90. degrees: one-with-respect to another... Consider... nowthe succeeding; elemental sections. ofiwire.

that traverse the opening 51 of lthe ferromag-.-

netic diaphragm 50 of the reproducingehead.

Each of thesewsections will act asasmall'm-age net and will" supply, a magnetic: flux traversing-,

lar ring 40 Itdsth-erefore apparenmthat -thei pair ofpole pieces M, 43 and-#therpair. of.-'pola 10;. piecesi42;:.44..wil1.each supply a convenient mag..- netic ipathhfor -.the.nhanging,,fli1x.; resulting from the epassage ,..ot the. magnetized .Lwire,.. and cause this; fluxtto .interlinkewithflthe associated...-,coi1s..

- This changing;flux generates two voltages in the.

pair of. coils..56,.,58 andjn the pair ofj'coils 51, 59; respectively,. the magnitudes, of these voltages delpending upon the .rinterlinking of the, magnetic fiuxcaused by the movingwire and the associated coils... Assume a. more specificcase in which the wire. IlLpasses through. the hole-5l of the reproducinghead Letitherelative position that the cross section of the wire occupies with respect toflthe pole pieces be. the one shown in Fig, 5. As shown in Fig. ,5, .the magnetic. vectorof the elemental section .of the wire has a direction represented by anarrow. A and forms. an angle ,8 with the .lihejoining the pole pieces 4!, i3,and angle (;8) with the line joining the pole pieces 42; 44. It is apparent that when 5:0 or 5:180 the magnetic flux created by the wire and interlinking with-the coils 551-58. is maximum, whereas themagnetioflux interlinking with the coils 51, 59"iszero. On the other hand, whene em or ,8=270 the magnetic flux interlinking with the coils 56, Wis zero and the magnetic flux interlinking with the coils 5'3, 59 is maximum. For intermediate values of lithe magnetic flux inter linking .with coils 56, 58fis proportional to cos fi and the magnetic fluxinterlinking with the coils 51, 59.is proportional-to sin 5..

The essential and fundamental 'feature .of my invention .consistsin. deriving by. means of the reproducer IZacoustical power that is substantially. proportional'to the magnitude of the mag,- netieefiectstored in the elemental section. of the wire, and=.1that is substantially independent of the angle 5. Such acoustical power is obtained by separately translating into, acoustical. energy the .two pick-up signals thatare derived from the coils.51,..59.and.56,' 5B and that are-applied acress theleads 60..'and..6l,, respectively. These signals are. radiated. acoustically by, means of loud-..

speakers 81 and 88, and provide a total radiation equal to..the .sum of the radiant energy. derived. fromsaidloud-speakers.

The. above. arrangement involving separate loudespeakers has the. purpose of preventing..com-

plete cancellationpf thesignals derived from the coi1 =-pairs.56, 1.5.8 .and 5,1, 59', respectively, Should, for 1 examp1e,.,the -outputs .of the amplifier 62 and 63 he, connectedrdirectl'y additively then there would be an orientation of the magnetism in the wire which.wouldgyanerateequal and opposite signals inieachlcoillpairl'and consequently. com: pletepcancellation of-Q'the outputs of amplifiers. e2; and 63; would ..occur..'. The-(employment. of two separate loudspeakers, such'astheloud-speakers 811.88, overcomes this difiiculty, since'each. loud.- s-peaker cannotfbetconsidered as a pointsourceof sound T andf'since. the. listener's ears; receive the sound 'from the. loud-speakers'over a multiplicity,

ofi'patfiS. due tot reflections, reverberations, etc; It; hasrbeen demonstrated in' connection. with stiidiesloiflthe, reproduction ofispeech' and music in i auditory "perspective. that even, when one "of a paitoflldud-Speakters is energized inexact phase opposition-to the other, ,cancellation'of the sound does notioccur and, onith'e contrary, ,the. power output.,of-..'oneof 'the loudgspeakers always tends tb.;.in'crease' the loudness, of the total signallgen'e erated; 'llfheireasonror'thislies inthe fact'that (1) th'erloudrspeakers themselves are usually of,

the; same. order Offl dimensions or larger than. a wavelengthioffthe,radiated'sound'; (2)" the spec..

tral composition of sound encountered in speech and music is extremely complex and if phase cancellation does exist for one frequency, phase addition will exist for another frequency, so that the resultant effect of two sound generators causes merely a variation in thesmoothness of the response vs. frequency characteristic of the system but does not result in any'appreciable cancellation effects; (3) because of reverberae' tions, etc. the ears of the listener receive the sound over a multiplicity of paths and at no time is it possible for all the paths to one loud-speaker to cancel the efiects due to all the paths to the other loud-speakers. Thus, it is seen that by an arrangement employing two loud-speakers the previous dificulties due to twisting of the wire are overcome since the arrangement employing two pick-up coil pairs and the dual loud-speakers makes it impossible for the signals caused by the components of the magnetism to cancel one another.

It is now apparent that the loudness of the signal generated by the loud-speakers 87 and 88 is maintained at a substantially constant level during the operation of the device, i. e. the total power is substantially unaffected by the twisting of the wire. As the wire twists, the orientation of the magnetism changes automatically, and under such conditions the two components that are picked up by the pick-up devices are both utilized to separately produce two individual acoustical outputs. These acoustical outputs are jointly radiated into the surrounding space, thus providing a total acoustical output that is at all times responsive to the transverse magnetism of the wire, irrespective of the orientation of the wire cross section with respect to the pole pieces of the reproducer.

Fig. 6 represents a modified fragmentof Fig. 1 in which the reproducer I2, the two loudspeakers 81, 88 and all circuit elements included in the dotted enclosure I have been replaced by a novel arrangement designated in Fig. 6 by a dotted enclosure IN. All other elements working in conjunction with those included in dotted enclosure IOI, are common to both arrangements of Fig. 1 and Fig. 6. These common elements are, for instance, supporting base I bearing members 2, spools 3, 4, guide members 5, 6, wire l0, motor 9, recording head II, erasing head I3 and all other elements shown in Fig. l with the exception of those included in the dotted enclosure I00. I I

Consider now the novel elements shown in Fig. 6 and included in the dotted enclosure I0 I. These include the reproducing head I I0 which consists essentially of two electromagnets III and H2 mounted upon supports H3, H4," respectively. The electromagnets III II2 have iron cores I20, I2I and windings I22, I23 wound around the cores I20, I2I, respectively. The core I20 is provided with two pole pieces I25, I26, forming an air gap I2! and the core I2I is provided with two pole pieces I30, I 3I forming an air gap I32. The wire I0 is made to pass through the air gaps I2! and. I32. As shown in Fig. 6 the iron cores I20, I 2I are .flxedly mounted upon the supports I I 3, I I4, respectively, and differently oriented one with respect to another. The iron core I20 is so oriented that the line joining the pole pieces I25, I26 is perpendicular to the axis of the wire and is located in the horizontal plane. The ironcore I 2I is so oriented that the line joining the pole pieces I30, I3I is perpendicular to the axis of the wire and is located in the vertical plane. The outputs of windings I22, I23 are connected to amplifiers I35, I36, respectively. I'he amplifiers I35, I36 have a common output terminal I40 and have the two remaining output terminals I4I, I42 connected to a loud-speaker I45.

It is apparent that each of the electromagnets III, I I2 is structurally identical to the electromagnet 24, and, consequently, the front view and the two cross sectional views shown in Fig. 2 can be used to represent each of electromagnets III, II2 as well as electromagnet 24.

Fig. 6 shows an arrangement in which the two reproducing electromagnets are arranged to pick up the recorded signals at slightly different times. The electromagnets II I and H2 are spaced one from another in a manner such that electromagnet I I I picks up the signals first and electromagnet II 2 picks up the same signal after a slight delay. It is well known that sounds are identified not so much by the wave shape of the air pressure waves but by their spectral composition. In connection with various attempts to simulate reverberatory effects for sounds recorded on phonographic discs and other recording media, two reproducing devices spaced one from another so as to pick up the recorded signals with a slight intervening delay have been employed. As early as 1926 the French corporation "Pathe Freres employed a phonographic disc reproducer embodying two pick-up heads spaced one from another by about 1 centimeter which responded to a time delay of about ,4 of a second. This spacing and corresponding time delay could be varied and it was found that time delays up to about second were permissible. In the arrangement of Fig. 6 the electromagnets I I I and I I2 are preferably arranged so that the time delay is of the order of /4 of a second. The electromagnets are differently oriented in such a manner that the electromagnet I I I picks up the component of the magnetism that is horizontal and the other electromagnet II2 picks up the component of the magnetism that is vertical. In an arrangement as described it is impossible for the ordinary wave shapes encountered in speech and music for the signals picked up by electromagnet III to completely cancel the signals picked up by electromagnet II2 because at no time are the two signals identical since one is delayed from the other by very many wave lengths. Such cancellation could occur only for comparatively pure sinusoids, but since the wave shapes encountered in music, and particularly those encountered in speech consist of rapidly changing signals, it is in practice impossible for a signal occurring at a given time to be completely cancelled by a signal occurring a few hundredths of a second later. Consequently, the electrical voltages derived from the outputs of the amplifiers I35, I36 never cancel each other and the sum of these two voltages is applied to the loud-speaker I45. Thus, the signal heard over the loud-speaker I45 in the arrangement of Fig. 6 merely has the characteristics of a signal that would be picked up by a single reproducing head in a room having a long reverberation time and the contribution of a second reproducing head is similar to the contribution of the echoes that result in a room provided with hard walls.

' Fig. '7 represents another modified fragment of Fig. l in which the reproducer I2, the two loudspeakers 81, 88 and all circuit elements included in the dotted enclosure I 00 have been replaced by a novel arrangement designated in Fig. 7 by a dotted encldsiire llfli Theenclosure I comprises many elements in common withthe enclosure I III in" Fig." 6 and"all such common" elements have been designated by the same nu merals. 5

In the arrangement of Fig. 7 the electromagnet I I I picks up the component of'the magnetism that is'zihorizontal and .the. electromagnet I I 2 pi'cks up thecomponent of the magnetism-that is ver tic'al.

Th'e electromagnets translate thevariationstsof l0 magnetism into corresponding electrical currents and amplifier I35- is arranged'to am-plify the currents derived from the electromagnet III and amplifier I36 is arrangedto amplify the cur-'- rents derived-*from'the-electromagnet IIZ. Amplifier I 35 is connected to a loud-speaker I15 and amplifier I36 is connected to a separate loudspeaker I'I6. It is apparent that power output of one of the loud-speakers always tends to increase the loudness of the total signal generated. The reason for this lies in the fact that (1) the loudspeakers themselves are usually of the same order of dimensions or larger than a wave length sound;

(2) the spectral composition of sounds encountered in speech and music is extremely complex and if phase cancellation does exist for one frequency phase, addition will exist for another frequency so that the resultant effect of two sound generators causes merely a variation in the smoothness of the response vs. frequency characteristic of the system but does not result in any appreciable cancellation effects; (3) because of reverberations, etc. the ears of the listener receive the sound over a multiplicity of paths and at no time is it possible for all the paths to one loud-speaker to cancel the eifects due to all the paths to the other loud-speaker. Thus, it is seen that by the present arrangement employing two loud-speakers the previous difficulties due to twisting of the wire are overcome since the arrangement employing two pick-up coil pairs and the dual loud-speakers makes it impossible for the signals caused by the components of the magnetism to cancel one another.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention and in what manner the same is tobe performed, I declare what I claim is:

l. The method of reproducing sound magnetically recorded upon a wire with the direction of magnetization transverse to the longitudinal axis of said wire and wherein the wire may twist so as to be oriented differently during the reproducing operation than during the recording operation, which comprises, converting the component of magnetization along one predetermined diameter of said wire to an electrical signal, converting the component of magnetization along a different predetermined diameter of said wire to a second electrical signal and separately convert- 6 ing said electrical signals to sound.

2. The method of reproducing sound magnetically recorded upon a wire with the direction of magnetization transverse to the longitudinal 1 axis of said wire and wherein the wire may twist so as to be oriented differently during the reproducing operation than during the recording operation, which comprises, converting the component of magnetization along one predetermined F diameter of said wire to an electrical signal, converting the component of magnetization along a different predetermined diameter of said wire in the same diametrical plane with said first diameter to a second electrical signal, and separately converting said electrical signals to sound. 75

3 Tfiemethbd br== reproddcmg sound ma neti: cally recorded 'u'pon a wire w itli the directiorr of magnetizationtransverse to tli'e longitudinal ax ii of 7 saidwire and 1 wherein tl ie :wire maytw-ist so' as to beor-iemea different durin'g th e repro's ducing 'operation than-'during the recording op'e a'ti'on', Whioh comprises;"- converting-the *magneti zation*of said -wire t a rst ele'ctrical sig-nal by' means o apick up unit' located akingan exten sion of one predtermined-- ameter'of said wire,- converting the' magnetization o i 'said w-ire" to second 'electri'cal signalhy means of a pickup unit 'locatedalong-an extension-of a diiierent pre= determined diameter of 'sai'd wire witl i 'said -sec'--- ondmentioned pick 'up unitdisplaced lngitudi nally of the=wire-"relative to said first mentioned pick up unit, and separately converting said electrical signals to sound.

4. The method of reproducing sound magnetically recorded upon a wire with the direction of magnetization transverse to the longitudinal axis of said wire and wherein the wire may twist so as to be oriented difierently during the reproducing operation than during the recording operation, which comprises, converting the magnetization of said wire to a first electrical signal by means of a pick up unit located along an extension of one predetermined diameter of said wire, converting the magnetization of said wire to a second electrical signal by means of a pick up unit located along an extension of a diameter of said wire disposed at right angles to said one diameter, and separately converting said electrical signals to sound.

5. In a reproducer for reproducing audio signals transversely magnetically recorded upon a moving wire moving in the direction of the longitudinal axis of said wire whereby the component of magnetic flux along difierent diameters of the same diametrical plane varies, said wire being capable of twistin about said longitudinal axis upon movement thereof, means responsive to the magnetization along one diameter of said wire for converting the component of magnetization along said diameter to a first electrical signal, means responsive to the magnetization along another diameter of said wire in approximately the same diametrical plane with said first diameter for converting the component of magnetization along said second diameter to a second electrical signal, and means responsive to each of said signals for converting said signals to sound.

6. In a reproducer for reproducing audio signals transversely magnetically recorded upon a moving wire moving in the direction of a longitudinal axis of said wire whereby the component of magnetic flux along different diameters of the same diametrical plane varies, said wire being capable of twisting about said longitudinal axis upon movement thereof, means responsive to the magnetization along one diameter of said wire for converting the component of magnetization along said diameter to a first electrical signal, means responsive to the magnetization along another diameter of said wire in a diametrical plane displaced longitudinally of said wire with respect to the diametrical plane containing said first diameter for converting the component of magnetization alon said second diameter to a second electrical signal, and means responsive to each of said signals for converting said signals to sound.

7. In a reproducer for reproducing audio signals transversely magnetically recorded upon a moving wire moving in the direction of the lon- 15 gitudinal axis of said wire whereby the component of magnetic flux along different diameters of the same diametrical plane varies, said wire being capable of twisting about said longitudinal axis upon movement thereof, means responsive to the magnetization along one diameter of said wire for converting the component of magnetization along said diameter to a first electrical signal, means responsive to the magnetization along another diameter of said wire for converting the component of magnetization along said second diameter to a second electrical signal, said two diameters being displaced from each other by ninety degrees and means responsive to each of said signals for converting said signals to sound. 15

JACOB NEUFELD.

16 REFERENCES orrnn The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS FOREIGN PATENTS Number 

